Tuesday, December 13, 2011

New Release: In Teddy's Arms by K.M. Mahoney

Everything Teddy has ever wanted is right in front of him, if only he can find the courage to reach out and take it.

Teddy
should really know better than to agree to one of Pierce’s "great
ideas," but he’s never found it easy to say no to his best friend. Which
is why he finds himself on the middle of a snow-covered road, heading
into the mountains to spend the Christmas holiday in a rental cabin.
And, like always, Pierce’s great plan backfires. The cabin is a dump,
it’s freezing outside – and then comes the snowstorm.

Pierce isn’t
sure how he’s going to handle an entire weekend trapped with Teddy.
Sure, the guy is his best friend, but tell that to Pierce’s body. It’s
getting harder and hard to keep his hands to himself.

Teddy
doesn’t think Pierce is interested in his nerdy best friend. Pierce
doesn’t think he’s good enough for Teddy. But the fire’s blazing, the
wind is howling, and it’s time for some changes.

Excerpt:

"Are you sure about this?"

"Teddy, ask me that again, and I’m going to pull this car over and toss you into a snow drift."

Pierce rolled his eyes. For a second, he entertained the lovely image
that the steering wheel he was gripping so tightly was, in fact, Teddy’s
neck. "The first three times you asked that question, I answered. The
next six times, I ignored you. You’ve now moved beyond that and are into
obnoxiously irritating. Stow it."

Silence enveloped the interior of the car for several long moments. Then Teddy mumbled, "Sorry."

Pierce grinned. That was his Teddy. He never could stay at odds with anyone for very long.

"Turn right in one-point-two miles," the GPS system stated in a dull, broken monotone.

"Thank God." Pierce nearly whooped. "I think we’re getting close." He
turned where the small navigation map on his dashboard indicated. The
bottom of their battered sedan scraped ominously over the snow-covered
gravel.

All right, so maybe Teddy had a point. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea
Pierce had ever had. But it was a little bit too late to back out now.
No way in hell was Pierce driving back down this mountain in the dark.

"I don’t see anything," Teddy said, sounding doubtful. He chewed on his
fingernail, expression nervous, eyes fastened on the darkening woods
surrounding the small road.

"It’s up here. Somewhere." Damn. That hadn’t come out as reassuring as Pierce had hoped.

The GPS remained unhelpfully silent as the car bumped its way along.
Twilight was quickly turning into night. The looming pines closing in on
all sides didn’t help, deepening the gloom. They were truly in the
middle of nowhere, no streetlights, no sidewalks, the roads rough. Hell,
there wasn’t even a McDonald’s. Civilisation was most definitely far
behind them.

At the moment, Pierce would have gladly traded his stupid GPS system for
just one tacky strand of twinkling Christmas lights. Anything to
suggest they weren’t lost in the mountains. And why the hell was it so
dark out here?

The cabin practically jumped out at them. Pierce rounded a curve and
slammed on the brakes. His heart thumped madly as he studied the
battered porch steps, dangerously close to his front bumper. Beside him,
Teddy let out a belated squeak of alarm.

Teddy had stopped staring at the scenery and was now eying the cabin
with trepidation. Pierce had to admit it didn’t look like much. The
porch was a bit wonky, the wood siding faded in spots, peeling in
others. Dark and tiny, it bore a disturbing resemblance to something
from a horror film.

"Maybe the inside is nicer," Pierce declared.

Amazing, how loudly Teddy could project his doubt without saying a word.

"It’s a true gift, that," Pierce said.

"Say what? Never mind. I guess we better unload." Teddy added a resigned
sigh, "But if it’s this bad on the inside, we’re finding a hotel
tomorrow."

Pierce almost asked how they would pay for it, then bit his tongue.
Teddy would probably decide to sleep in the car. Then he would freeze to
death in the middle of the night and Pierce would have to explain to
Teddy’s parents how he let their son turn into a nice, hard, ice-coated
statue.

Pierce shook his head to dislodge his stupid ramblings and climbed out
of the car. He took a minute to stretch the kinks out of his back
because, damn, that had been a long trip.

Using the remote to pop the trunk, Pierce hauled out his duffel bag and
slung it over his shoulder. He shivered in the cold and grabbed his coat
from the back seat. He should probably put it on, but he'd be inside in
a minute.

He waded through the drifts piled against the porch. It took him a
minute of fruitless searching before he realised the first step was
busted. He could move his foot around in the six inch layer of snow and
never find it because it simply wasn’t there.

"Watch the steps," he called over his shoulder.

Teddy started muttering again. Pierce ignored what he knew were
complaints and cautiously mounted the steps. He stuck the key the rental
agent had given him into the lock. The door swung on creaking hinges
before he could turn the key.

"Okay, not exactly the best sign," Pierce said to himself. He pushed the
door the rest of the way open, anyway. The room was dark and the musty
smell made his nose tingle. The cabin was also cold, nearly as bad as
outside.

Pierce felt around the wall and found the switch. It clicked on and dim
light flooded the space. Relief swamped him. The glow from the single
bulb didn’t quite chase all the shadows away, but hey, they had
electricity. At the moment, Pierce wasn’t going to take anything for
granted.

Then he surveyed the room and groaned. "Teddy’s gonna hate it."

"Hate what?"

Pierce jumped and whirled around, facing his best friend with his
biggest fake smile. "Nothing, it’s great. Warm and cosy. All we need is
that fake tree I packed and we’re good to go."

Teddy stared at him with solemn brown eyes. "You’re a horrible liar."

"Not true, I’m a magnificent liar." Just not to Teddy. That’s what
happened when you knew someone since kindergarten. Teddy knew all
Pierce’s tricks.

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